Atheist Nexus2015-08-02T21:14:42ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianskihttp://api.ning.com/files/K2Gx6v*5f6aP2xC7nzdCtyL*v3VoY5M7fTHv81eUw-GkOF9RSr-NNeWbLGvB4m-b2V-R8BXdy2VWCAgOq7J9vUKRSpkJoDoVmonFrigFbu4_/bs.jpg?width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://atheistnexus.org/group/originsuniverselifehumankindanddarwin/forum/topic/listForContributor?user=2bg3kxqfx80p7&feed=yes&xn_auth=noPreliminary Test of Experimental Ebola Vaccine Shows 100% Effectivenesstag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-31:2182797:Topic:26337922015-07-31T21:59:35.691ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p>A preliminary test in Guinea of an experimental Ebola vaccine indicated that it was 100% effective. Per the article:</p>
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<p><em>The test, backed by drug firm Merck, the WHO and the governments of Canada, Norway and Guinea, saw 4,123 high-risk people vaccinated immediately after someone close to them fell ill with the deadly haemorrhagic fever. None of the vaccinated group caught the virus, according to study results published in The Lancet medical journal. A second, comparison group…</em></p>
<p>A preliminary test in Guinea of an experimental Ebola vaccine indicated that it was 100% effective. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>The test, backed by drug firm Merck, the WHO and the governments of Canada, Norway and Guinea, saw 4,123 high-risk people vaccinated immediately after someone close to them fell ill with the deadly haemorrhagic fever. None of the vaccinated group caught the virus, according to study results published in The Lancet medical journal. A second, comparison group of 3,528 people received the vaccine only three weeks after potential exposure. Sixteen of them contracted the virus, said the study, but by day six after immunization, the remainder of this group was also fully protected.</em></p>
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<p><em><a href="http://news.discovery.com/human/health/ebola-vaccine-gives-100-percent-protection-150731.htm">http://news.discovery.com/human/health/ebola-vaccine-gives-100-percent-protection-150731.htm</a></em></p> explanation for reality Theism or Atheism?tag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-28:2182797:Topic:26330732015-07-28T09:06:39.624ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p>David Silverman Debate Frank Turek better explanation for reality Theism or Atheism?</p>
<p>David Silverman Debates Christian apologist Frank Turek debates on the topic: Which offers a better explanation for reality–Theism or Atheism? This debate was held on April 18, 2013 at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, LA</p>
<p>David Silverman is the current president of the American Atheists, a non-profit organization that supports the rights of atheists and the removal of expressions of…</p>
<p>David Silverman Debate Frank Turek better explanation for reality Theism or Atheism?</p>
<p>David Silverman Debates Christian apologist Frank Turek debates on the topic: Which offers a better explanation for reality–Theism or Atheism? This debate was held on April 18, 2013 at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, LA</p>
<p>David Silverman is the current president of the American Atheists, a non-profit organization that supports the rights of atheists and the removal of expressions of religion in public when possibly interpretable as governmental endorsement, in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.</p>
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<p><span class="font-size-7"><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong><a href="https://youtu.be/CHt6HbviwDY" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">watch</span></a></strong></span> <span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong><a href="https://youtu.be/CHt6HbviwDY" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">t</span></a></strong></span><span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong><a href="https://youtu.be/CHt6HbviwDY" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">he</span></a></strong></span> <span style="color: #0000ff;"><strong><a href="https://youtu.be/CHt6HbviwDY" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0000ff;">debate</span></a></strong></span></span></p> Hawking Signs Warning Against Arms Race of Artificial Intelligence Devices that Killtag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-27:2182797:Topic:26330402015-07-27T23:59:33.337ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p>Stephen Hawking has signed an open letter issued by the Future of Life organization that warns against an arms race of killer robots and or drones. Per the article: </p>
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<p><i>Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, physicist Stephen Hawking and other tech luminaries have signed an open letter warning against the dangers of starting a global arms race of <a href="http://www.livescience.com/49009-future-of-artificial-intelligence.html"><b>artificial intelligence (AI)…</b></a></i></p>
<p>Stephen Hawking has signed an open letter issued by the Future of Life organization that warns against an arms race of killer robots and or drones. Per the article: </p>
<p> </p>
<p><i>Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, physicist Stephen Hawking and other tech luminaries have signed an open letter warning against the dangers of starting a global arms race of <a href="http://www.livescience.com/49009-future-of-artificial-intelligence.html"><b>artificial intelligence (AI) technology</b></a> unless the United Nations supports a ban on weapons that humans “have no meaningful control over.”<font face="Calibri" size="3">….</font></i><i>This isn’t the first time the science and tech luminaries have warned against the dangers of AI. In 2014, Hawking said the development of full <a href="http://www.livescience.com/48972-stephen-hawking-artificial-intelligence-threat.html"><b>artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race</b></a>. Both Hawking and Musk signed a letter by the same organization in January warning that <a href="http://www.livescience.com/49419-artificial-intelligence-dangers-letter.html"><b>AI holds great dangers</b></a> unless humanity can ensure that AI systems “will do what we want them to.”</i></p>
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<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/tech/ban-killer-robots-before-they-take-over-stephen-hawking-elon-musk-say-150727.htm"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">http://news.discovery.com/tech/ban-killer-robots-before-they-take-over-stephen-hawking-elon-musk-say-150727.htm</font></a></p> Fossils illustrate evolution of lifetag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-26:2182797:Topic:26328612015-07-26T14:45:26.327ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<blockquote><p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vr8e9vI-HyPIBw33O7lubcZ2hrdeI2pJBwc1Xx9TUl84mOLjK1MhlH7o28S8n2ECLZ9AfujYpgg7vLkqIr2M9ZulukxBVHSO/ay_giganotosaurus_free.jpg" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vr8e9vI-HyPIBw33O7lubcZ2hrdeI2pJBwc1Xx9TUl84mOLjK1MhlH7o28S8n2ECLZ9AfujYpgg7vLkqIr2M9ZulukxBVHSO/ay_giganotosaurus_free.jpg?width=750" width="750"></img></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0231171900/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0231171900&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sciencenews06-20&amp;linkId=52Y74XUQQNAFJZHR" target="_blank">The Story of Life in 25 Fossils</a><br></br> <em>Donald R.…</em></p>
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<blockquote><p><a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vr8e9vI-HyPIBw33O7lubcZ2hrdeI2pJBwc1Xx9TUl84mOLjK1MhlH7o28S8n2ECLZ9AfujYpgg7vLkqIr2M9ZulukxBVHSO/ay_giganotosaurus_free.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/vr8e9vI-HyPIBw33O7lubcZ2hrdeI2pJBwc1Xx9TUl84mOLjK1MhlH7o28S8n2ECLZ9AfujYpgg7vLkqIr2M9ZulukxBVHSO/ay_giganotosaurus_free.jpg?width=750" width="750"/></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0231171900/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0231171900&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sciencenews06-20&amp;linkId=52Y74XUQQNAFJZHR">The Story of Life in 25 Fossils</a><br/> <em>Donald R. Prothero<br/> Columbia Univ, $35</em></p>
<p>When it comes to life on Earth, perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky — the largest land and sea creatures of today don’t tend to devour people. But had we shared the planet with such terrors as <em>Giganotosaurus</em> and the enormous shark <em>Carcharocles megalodon</em>, we probably wouldn’t have fared so well. Paleontologist Donald Prothero introduces readers to these beasts and others in <em>The Story of Life in 25 Fossils</em>.</p>
<p>The gee-whiz aspects of big dinosaurs and other bizarre critters aren’t the meat of the book; it’s Prothero’s careful description of 25 fossils that offer an overview of the progression of plants and animals in the last 3.5 billion years.</p>
<p>Prothero starts at life’s beginning, with mats of microbes that ruled the world until roughly 600 million years ago. Eventually those microbes morphed into multicelled sea creatures that looked liked worms, jellies and underwater ferns. From there, an explosion of creatures occurred, producing everything from early mollusks and sponges to nightmarish sea creatures that now carry names like <em>Hallucigenia</em> (<a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fossil-worm-adds-head-its-spiny-appearance"><em>SN Online: 6/24/15</em></a>). Later came land plants, fish that grew the size of <em>Carcharocles</em> and fish that crawled out of water. Those critters branched into frogs, turtles and snakes. Ultimately, the animals transitioned into dinosaurs, birds and mammals.</p>
<p>Chapters chronicle critical stages of evolution in which spineless animals developed backbones and animal groups diverged into arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, whales, humanlike ancestors and much more. The chapters are short and packed with details, which sometimes tangle into tangents.</p>
<p>Still, the tangents act as good teasers, briskly walking readers through the whirlwind of life on Earth and celebrating the diversity of creatures that once existed. That celebration ends abruptly, however, as Prothero reminds readers that <em>Homo sapiens</em> is now the terror of the planet, threatening to drive nearly all species, including itself, extinct.</p>
<p><em>Buy</em> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0231171900/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0231171900&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sciencenews06-20&amp;linkId=52Y74XUQQNAFJZHR"><em>The Story of Life in 25 Fossils</em></a> <em>from Amazon.com. Sales generated through the links to Amazon.com contribute to Society for Science &amp; the Public's programs.</em></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fossils-illustrate-evolution-life?tgt=nr">https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fossils-illustrate-evolution-life?tgt=nr</a></p> Stephen Hawking Associated with New Search for Intelligent Alienstag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-21:2182797:Topic:26308542015-07-21T02:46:29.951ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p>Stephen Hawking is associated with a new hunt for intelligent alien life. On Monday, 7-20-15, he announced the launch of a100 million dollar effort to detect it. It seems that the effort provides for all of the data received from outer space to be available to social media, thus, allowing it to be analyzed, discussed and interpreted by the general public. This would provide for the general public, in addition to the scientists, to develop ideas about how elements of it might have come from…</p>
<p>Stephen Hawking is associated with a new hunt for intelligent alien life. On Monday, 7-20-15, he announced the launch of a100 million dollar effort to detect it. It seems that the effort provides for all of the data received from outer space to be available to social media, thus, allowing it to be analyzed, discussed and interpreted by the general public. This would provide for the general public, in addition to the scientists, to develop ideas about how elements of it might have come from intelligent life. Per the article:</p>
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<p><em>On Monday, famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking announced the launch of a new $100 million effort to track down an alien civilization within the next decade. Funded by US-based tech billionaire Yuri Milner, the initiative, called “Breakthrough Listen,” will take a “Silicon Valley approach” to discovering aliens, using two powerful radio telescopes and leveraging the problem-solving power of social networks. Frank Drake, the father of modern SETI who started the hunt for alien transmissions with "Project Ozma" in 1960, was <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yuri-milner-and-stephen-hawking-announce-100-million-breakthrough-initiatives-to-dramatically-accelerate-search-for-intelligent-life-in-the-universe-300115403.html"><font color="#0000FF">also in attendance at the announcement</font></a> with Hawking and other participating astronomers</em>….<i>Breakthrough Listen is the first half of the group's mission. The second, "Breakthrough Message," will consist of an international competition to compile a global message that will one day be transmitted to another civilization.</i></p>
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<p><a href="http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/hawking-spearheads-new-hunt-for-intelligent-aliens-150720.htm">http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/hawking-spearheads-new-hunt-for-intelligent-aliens-150720.htm</a></p>
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<p></p> USA Supposedly to get Lung Cancer Vaccine from Cubatag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-19:2182797:Topic:26293692015-07-19T06:19:41.675ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p>The USA is supposedly to receive an effective lung cancer vaccine called Cimavax from Cuba. Per the article:<i> </i></p>
<p><i>Cuba has developed Cimavax, an effective lung cancer vaccine, and American researchers can now finally get their hands on it, reports <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/05/cimavax-roswell-park-cancer-institute/" title="http://www.wired.com/2015/05/cimavax-roswell-park-cancer-institute/"><font color="#0000FF">Wired</font></a>. ..... Cimavax, which stops tumors from…</i></p>
<p>The USA is supposedly to receive an effective lung cancer vaccine called Cimavax from Cuba. Per the article:<i> </i></p>
<p><i>Cuba has developed Cimavax, an effective lung cancer vaccine, and American researchers can now finally get their hands on it, reports <a title="http://www.wired.com/2015/05/cimavax-roswell-park-cancer-institute/" href="http://www.wired.com/2015/05/cimavax-roswell-park-cancer-institute/"><font color="#0000FF">Wired</font></a>. ..... Cimavax, which stops tumors from growing, was 25 years in the making and has been available for free to Cuban patients since 2011, Wired reports. …Experts say they're excited not just by the potential of Cimavax, but by other novel Cuban cancer treatments that could now be available to US researchers.</i> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/12/lung-cancer-vaccine-cimavax-cuba/27168559/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/12/lung-cancer-vaccine-cimavax-cuba/27168559/</a></p>
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<p></p> Reseaearchers Say People on Statins are Significantly Less Likely to Die from Cancertag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-16:2182797:Topic:26274452015-07-16T22:21:27.576ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Researchers say results of two major studies indicate that people taking statins are significantly less likely to die from breast, bowel, ovarian bone and prostate cancers. Per the article:</span></p>
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<p><em><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The…</span></em></p>
<p><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Researchers say results of two major studies indicate that people taking statins are significantly less likely to die from breast, bowel, ovarian bone and prostate cancers. Per the article:</span></p>
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<p><em><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">The research, presented in Chicago at the world’s biggest cancer treatment conference, found statins increased women’s survival from common cancers such as breast, bowel and ovarian cancer by 40%. In bone cancer, the death rate was reduced by 55%. A second study showed that men with advanced prostate cancer taking statins were also 40% less likely to die than those who were not....Unlike aspirin, which research has shown can help prevent cancers, statins did not have a protective effect among those who took them – but once they had cancer, they were less likely to die from it.</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/03/statins-could-halve-risk-of-dying-from-cancer-says-major-study">http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/03/statins-could-halve-risk-of-dying-from-cancer-says-major-study</a></span></p>
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<p></p> Researchers Find Links Betwteen Genetic Diversity, Height and Cognitive Skillstag:atheistnexus.org,2015-07-08:2182797:Topic:26215072015-07-08T22:43:23.831ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">A major study performed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh has established links between genetic diversity, height and cognitive skills. Per the article:</font></span><span class="font-size-3"><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></i></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Those who are born to parents from diverse genetic backgrounds tend to be taller and have…</font></i></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">A major study performed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh has established links between genetic diversity, height and cognitive skills. Per the article:</font></span><span class="font-size-3"><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></i></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Those who are born to parents from diverse genetic backgrounds tend to be taller and have sharper thinking skills than others, the major international study has found.</font></i></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Researchers analysed health and genetic information from more than 100 studies carried out around the world. These included details on more than 350,000 people from urban and rural communities.</font></i></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The team found that greater genetic diversity is linked to increased height. It is also associated with better cognitive skills, as well as higher levels of education</font></i></span><span class="font-size-3"><i><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">....</font></i></span><i>The study is published in the journal <em>Nature</em> and was funded by the Medical Research Council.</i></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150701133345.htm"><font face="Calibri" size="3">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150701133345.htm</font></a></span></p>
<p></p> Modern Humans Interbred with Neanderthals in Europetag:atheistnexus.org,2015-06-25:2182797:Topic:26144992015-06-25T16:32:09.046ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p>Analysis of a 40,000 year old jawbone found in Romania revealed that it was of a modern human that had up to 11% Neanderthal DNA which had come from a Neanderthal ancestor 4 to 6 generations back. This means that modern humans interbred with Neanderthals in Europe. It is estimated that modern humans coexisted with Neanderthals in Europe for up to 5, 000 years. Per the article:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>....radiocarbon dating of remains from sites across Europe suggests that modern humans and…</em></p>
<p>Analysis of a 40,000 year old jawbone found in Romania revealed that it was of a modern human that had up to 11% Neanderthal DNA which had come from a Neanderthal ancestor 4 to 6 generations back. This means that modern humans interbred with Neanderthals in Europe. It is estimated that modern humans coexisted with Neanderthals in Europe for up to 5, 000 years. Per the article:</p>
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<p><em>....radiocarbon dating of remains from sites across Europe suggests that modern humans and Neanderthals both lived in Europe for up to 5,000 years....DNA taken from a 40,000-year-old modern human jawbone reveals that this man had a Neandertal ancestor as recently as four to six generations back.... They estimate that five to 11 percent of the genome preserved in the bone derives from a Neanderthal ancestor...."The data from the jawbone imply that humans mixed with Neanderthals not just in the Middle East but in Europe as well" says Qiaomei Fu, one of the lead researchers of the study.</em></p>
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<p>The findings appear in the latest issue of the journal, <em>Nature.</em></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150622122718.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150622122718.htm</a></p> DNA Links Kennewick Man to Native Americanstag:atheistnexus.org,2015-06-18:2182797:Topic:26127412015-06-18T18:51:56.024ZPaula T.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/PaulaTobianski
<p><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kennewick Man is the name that has been given to the 8500 year old human remains discovered in 1996 on the shore of the Columbia River in Washington State. Up until now they could not be DNA tested. However, improved DNA testing methods have allowed DNA testing of them and determined that they are more closely related to modern Native Americans than any other people. There has been a lot of legal action…</span></p>
<p><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kennewick Man is the name that has been given to the 8500 year old human remains discovered in 1996 on the shore of the Columbia River in Washington State. Up until now they could not be DNA tested. However, improved DNA testing methods have allowed DNA testing of them and determined that they are more closely related to modern Native Americans than any other people. There has been a lot of legal action pertaining to whether they should be accessible to scientists for study or given to Native Americans in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Per the article: </span></p>
<p><em><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">“Kennewick Man’s genome sequence is closer to that of Native Americans than any other contemporary people’s including the Ainu and Polynesians,” senior author Eske Willerslev, from the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for GeoGenetics, told Discovery News....The results challenge a 2014 study that concluded, based on anatomical data, that Kennewick Man was more related to indigenous Japanese or Polynesian peoples than to Native Americans.</span></em></p>
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<p><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://news.discovery.com/human/genetics/kennewick-man-close-kin-to-native-americans-gene-study-shows-150618.htm">http://news.discovery.com/human/genetics/kennewick-man-close-kin-to-native-americans-gene-study-shows-150618.htm</a></span></p>
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